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I’m a sixth generation North Floridian, and in this space I share my love of things that grow here, the people that grow them, and some of my favorite ways to serve them. "What we need is here," Wendell Berry tells us. I believe it.

Coconut Curry Summer Soup - or Something Else to Do with Eggplant

I think eggplant is pretty, but that's really the only good thing I have to say about it. Especially this time of year. We served this soup at the cafe today, and it was delicious. It also used up a number of other vegetable we have growing here in Gainesville in late summer.

Sauté chopped onion and pepper in olive oil for a few minutes till cruchy-tender. Add eggplant and stir fry till tender. Stir in curry powder. Add sweet potatoes and quinoa. Add water (or broth) to twice the depth of the vegetables. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer till potatoes are tender and the quinoa has become tiny spirals. Add tomatoes, coconut milk and heat to almost boiling. Add salt to taste. We garnished ours with delicious pickled jalapenos.

It's a lovely, milky, golden color - just right for this time of year (I wanted to take a photo, but I accidentally returned it with the camera I borrowed this summer!). It was very gratifying to transform all these familar summer regulars into something new. And I don't notice the eggplant at all.